ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 20,914 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 37.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 35,559 shares of the company's stock after selling 20,914 shares during the quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,192,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.4% in the 1st quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 10,066 shares of the company's stock worth $910,000 after acquiring an additional 1,111 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 168,561 shares of the company's stock worth $15,130,000 after purchasing an additional 5,062 shares in the last quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.4% during the 1st quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC now owns 4,414 shares of the company's stock valued at $396,000 after purchasing an additional 486 shares during the last quarter. Revisor Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter valued at about $327,000. Finally, Weaver Consulting Group lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 25.7% in the first quarter. Weaver Consulting Group now owns 4,200 shares of the company's stock worth $377,000 after buying an additional 858 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK traded down $1.42 during trading on Friday, reaching $80.97. 7,734,538 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,256,132. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $73.31 and a 12-month high of $129.93. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $79.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $87.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.41. The company has a market cap of $203.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.79, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 43.23% and a net margin of 27.27%. The firm had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.07 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.00%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.16%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MRK shares. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 price objective (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $109.19.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total transaction of $352,723.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 7,778 shares in the company, valued at $643,707.28. This trade represents a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Profile

Merck & Co, Inc is a health care company, which engages in the provision of health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, animal health, and consumer care products. It operates through the following segments: Pharmaceutical, Animal Health, and Other. The Pharmaceutical segment includes human health pharmaceutical and vaccine products.